Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta (Picture: Getty) Arsenal chiefs were full of praise for summer signing Christos Tzolis at the Champions League draw and told Club Brugge of his exploits in training. Greece international Tzolis signed a long-term contract at the Emirates Stadium in July after Arsenal agreed a £34m deal with Club Brugge. Mikel Arteta targeted the 24-year-old after sanctioning the exit of Leandro Trossard, while Arsenal also put Gabriel Martinelli up for the sale. Tzolis has enjoyed a bright start to his career in north London, helping the Premier League champions win their first four games of the season ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League opener against Napoli. Exclusive Premier League previews Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free. After bringing Tzolis to the club, Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta insisted the Greek winger would ‘raise the technical level of our squad’ and bring a ‘strong mentality to our team’. Those high up at the Emirates Stadium were equally positive about Tzolis when bumping into officials from Club Brugge during last month’s Champions League draw in Monaco. President of the Belgian club, Bart Verhaeghe, said Arsenal were raving about the £34m signing and revealed he had been ‘coming out on top’ in various tests in training. Arsenal summer signing Christos Tzolis (Picture: Getty) ‘At the Champions League draw, I saw people from Arsenal and they showed a tremendous amount of respect,’ Verhaeghe told Het Belang van Limburg. ‘”What a player you’ve delivered”, they told me. They said he has an excellent attitude, is the best in the physical tests and is a great guy, too.’ In a separate interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, the Club Brugge chief added: ‘Arsenal said “what a player” when they approached me after the draw. https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc9S3CDETkp/?hl=en&img_index=1 ‘Christos had come out on top in all the tests. That’s what we do here: deliver a ready-made product. Because we know what those top teams are looking for. We prepare our players for that kind of football. ‘Back then, people laughed at our holistic approach to nutrition, sleep, special glasses… Today, it’s all standard practice. We were the innovators from day one, and we’ll keep innovating. ‘Today, we’re selling players to Arsenal and Inter Milan, two teams that have reached the Champions League final in the last two years. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mikel Arteta speaks before Champions League match against Napoli","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/08\/3761798954835882587\/480x270_MP4_3761798954835882587.mp4","description":"Arsenal's Mikel speaks to the press on Tuesday ahead of their Champions League match against Napoli on Wednesday at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.","duration":"T1M34S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/08\/22\/111127717-0-image-m-34_1788904072537.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-08T22:46:27+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); ‘And at the same time, we’re recruiting directly from the Premier League, from a club like West Ham. 10 years ago, that was unthinkable.’ Last month, Arsenal defender Ben White revealed Tzolis was ‘beating everyone’ in pre-season testing. ‘Christo
Borussia Dortmund released a statement addressing Konstantinos Karetsas' status after the player had to be stretchered off the field in the 26-27 UEFA Champions League debut. Konstantinos Karetsas was at the center of a concerning incident during the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League opening matchday, requiring a stretcher to leave the pitch due to a medical situation rather than a physical tackle. Following the alarming scene, Borussia Dortmund issued an official statement providing an update on the Greek international’s condition. With Dortmund hosting Villarreal at Signal Iduna Park, Karetsas was named to the starting lineup by head coach Niko Kovac before his abrupt exit in the opening half. The midfielder played a pass back toward his defense in the 23rd minute before immediately collapsing to the turf, prompting medical personnel to rush onto the field to evaluate him. Far from a structural or orthopedic issue, Karetsas motioned toward his abdominal region and was unable to walk off under his own power. After several minutes of evaluation on the pitch, the attacking midfielder was loaded onto a stretcher and removed in the 27th minute, raising immediate concern among supporters and staff regarding the underlying cause. While the match remained underway, Borussia Dortmund released a public statement addressing the player’s status: “Konstantinos Karetsas had to leave the field due to circulatory problems. Kosta is doing well under the circumstances and is on his way to the hospital for further tests.“ Konstantinos Karetsas had to leave the field due to circulatory problems. Kosta is doing well under the circumstances and is on his way to the hospital for further tests. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/WMYbxkdTEk— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) September 8, 2026 Prior to Tuesday’s scare, Karetsas had already drawn close monitoring from Dortmund’s medical staff. After starting in Saturday’s Bundesliga fixture against Hoffenheim, the 18-year-old missed Monday’s final pre-match training session leading up to the Villarreal clash due to fatigue symptoms. Despite the early disruption, Dortmund secured three points in their European opener with a 3-2 victory over Villarreal, highlighted by Serhou Guirassy converting an 85th-minute penalty before turning in a late 93rd-minute own goal. The German club will resume their Champions League schedule on October 14 against Bodo/Glimt, when medical staff hope to have Karetsas cleared for selection. Dortmund suffer setback from Greek duo Karetsas’ medical situation heightened anxiety across European soccer following recent heart-related scares across the continent, including Udinese’s Jakub Piotrowski and Napoli’s Scott McTominay undergoing cardiac ablation procedures for mild benign arrhythmia. While a full diagnosis for the midfielder remains pending, Dortmund face losing both members of their newly acquired Greek tandem in under a month. Back on August 29, during Dortmund’s Bundesliga opener against Hamburg, fellow Greek international Giannis Konstantelias suffered a major injury setback. The winger sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear that will keep him sidelined for the majority of the 2026-27 campaign, leaving both of BVB’s marquee summer additions unavailable for the foreseeable future.
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